Metroid: Return to SR388
by colonel-forte
Summary: The events leading up to Samus' infection by the X Parasite in Metroid 4: Fusion, concurrent with flashbacks to the start of Samus' career and her relationship with her CO, Adam.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE  
  
Purr-eeek!  
  
That sound again. Where was it coming from? she wonders as she looks around, out of breath. It is very dark and she can not see anything beyond the hulking skeleton before her. To what does that belong? she asks herself, and why am I out of breath? Where am I? Why am I in my suit? It all seems familiar, but nothing comes to her. She moves toward the only exit she can find, a dark tunnel just beyond the skeleton. As she brushes past, it disintegrates slightly, falling to the rough ground as a powder.  
  
Purr-eeek!  
  
Louder this time. Whatever it is, she knows she is getting closer. Up ahead, faint light begins to appear. Thanks to her visor, the light is amplified, and she can tell it is natural light. I must be getting close to the surface, she thinks, but then, The surface of what? Fighting her impulse to sprint for the light, she knows not what dangers exist between her and the tunnel's end. She relents and quickens her pace anyway.  
  
Suddenly and inexplicably, she is in the open. Intensely bright light surrounds her. Everything comes flooding back in an instant; that skeleton belonged to the Mother Metroid; this is the ventilation corridor to her nest; I'm on SR388!  
  
PURR-EEEK!  
  
She spins around and there is the metroid larva, far larger than it had any right to be. A giant, disgustingly transparent, green mass filled with bright red, spherical organs, and four yellowish, dripping fangs, twitching wildly. It doesn't think, it moves instinctively, floating closer to her, to suck every bit of life from her. She knows that it will kill her, and then grow to be the next hive queen, and energy sucking metroids will fill the galaxy and eventually destroy the universe. She fires her arm cannon, and gets nothing. Her equipment doesn't seem to be damaged, so she attempts to fire a blast missile instead. She does not panic, but belatedly, she notices that her magazine is empty. It's too late. The metroid attaches to her and begins to penetrate her armor with its siphon tentacles. She morphs into her protective sphere and attempts to set off a few flare bombs, but the metroid is too large for that. She stands and attempts to jump and activate her lightning force field but still the metroid clings to her. She can feel her strength disappearing and she begins to stumble. As she falls she almost welcomes the endless sleep that awaits her. Nothing more to worry about, but she knows that her afterlife would be haunted by the knowledge that she didn't stop the threat, and that the universe would be overrun if she were to fail. She hears Adam's words clearly as she collapses to the hard earth of SR388, "You did your best Lady, but it seems you have failed." Those last three words echo endlessly in her mind as she lies her head down and closes her eyes- 


	2. Chapter 1: Adam Remembered

CHAPTER 1  
  
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP  
  
Smack. "Damn alarm clock," she muttered. Samus Aran, Bounty Hunter, sat up in bed drenched in sweat. "Same dream," she sighed as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "same dream."  
  
It's been years since SR388, she scolds herself. Why am I suddenly plagued with this? She stood up and walked to her closet, opened it and reached for her one-piece jogging suit. In one motion she pulled it from the closet and tossed it on her already made bed. "Shower," she called as she crossed the utilitarian bedroom to the sparsely decorated hygiene station where the shower had just come to life.  
  
Immediately following her morning wake-up ritual she donned the jogging suit and exited through her bedroom's rear portal. Time, she thought. The sound panel sewn into the fabric of her shoulder responded, "It is now 6:17, MCT." I've got forty-three minutes to workout then. Good, better than I planned, she mused. She concentrated on the Martian forest in front of her for minute, plotted her route and approached the electronic marker at the edge of the trees. She thought once more, Start distance recorder and chronometer when left foot touches down. Chosen path; Route A3. Then she assumed a runner's crouch and took off.  
  
The empty, alien, cave loomed at her from every direction. She chose her steps carefully as she walked. She wondered if she would ever get used to exploring alien worlds this way. Not for the first time that day, she cursed her power suit. Why did I have to be the one chosen to carry on the Chozo legacy? she wondered.  
  
"Lady, is something wrong?"  
  
Samus startled and caught her breath. "You haven't spoken much since planet fall. In fact, I cannot recall you having said anything yet beyond your initial report. Is there a problem with your equipment?"  
  
"No sir, Adam sir. I'm still adjusting to the environment sir. Tell me you wouldn't be nervous in the same position, exploring a new planet for the first time." Samus struggled to keep her voice from shaking.  
  
"That is understandable Lady. And please, just call me Adam."  
  
"Fine, Adam. And please just call me Samus," she countered, somewhat frustrated.  
  
"I respectfully decline Lady."  
  
Samus rolled her eyes. Who does he think he is, calling me "Lady." If he weren't my C.O. I'd tear him up. "No Adam, there's nothing wrong with my equipment. I just have nothing much to say right now."  
  
"Very well. As you were."  
  
Samus kept walking, focusing on the tunnel in front of her. She thought she could make out the end of the tunnel ahead. She shortened her stride, approaching slowly. She blinked and squinted, searching for the faint light that would signify a pressure hatch. She took, and stopped. She'd reached the end, no outlet. "Great," she muttered. The only possible route and it leads nowhere. Where are all of the catacombs that the ground scan revealed? She glanced around, searching the immediate area for clues and eventually gave up. "Adam: dead end."  
  
"Understood Lady. My instruments show more tunnels just ahead of you. No outlet that you can see then?"  
  
"Nothing. I would need drilling equipment to get through. Unless you think I could bust through with my power beam," she mocked as she rolled her eyes.  
  
"No, I am certain that would not work. The barrier is not that thin, however I am detecting structural weaknesses you may be able to exploit. The barrier appears to be made of some type of coral; perhaps one of you bombs would be useful here."  
  
"Bombs? Adam I'm not carrying any bo--... Wait, uh-uh, no way, I'm not doing that! I'm not curling into a ball so this suit can crush me!"  
  
"Lady, you do not need to be afraid, I'm confident that the process is safe and the scientific theory it is based on is solid."  
  
"Sure, that's easy enough for you to say it's not your little body being shrunk to fit inside a little ball."  
  
"I appreciate your fear Samus; all I ask is for you to trust me. You will remain unharmed."  
  
He called me Samus! she realized. "And I appreciate that you appreciate this Adam." She paused, searching for the right words for another response, and could find none.  
  
"Samus?"  
  
"Initiating morph ball now," she responded. Here we go Samus, just close your eyes and do this. She took her own advice and clenched her eyes shut as she thought the command for the morph change, Morph ball: activate. Suddenly she could see in her mind's eye everything around her. To safely sense everything around her the suit gave her a complete 360-degree sphere of awareness. This is amazing! She rolled around for a moment, getting used to the feeling of traveling in "ball" form until she remembered why she had morphed. Bomb, she thought-commanded. The ball pulsed momentarily and the energy coalesced into a small, red ball. She didn't try to roll away, not initially thinking about the consequences of staying put as the bomb counted down. Suddenly she was a few feet in the air and the feeling of flying and then falling scared the hell out of her. Next thing she knew, she was deeper than she was before the bomb detonated. It worked! It actually worked; I blasted through the coral. She was instantly aware of a small tunnel in front of her, which she immediately began to roll down. She reached another dead-end, but this time hesitated none and set- off another bomb. This time however she rolled quickly away. The bomb detonated, opening up the "roof" of the small tunnel, and then her fear hit her again. How do I get out of here? she mentally screamed. She forced herself to calm-down and suddenly the answer was very clear. Stand up. So she thought-commanded the morph once more and resumed her fully standing position, and easily stepped out of the hole. "Adam," she activated her radio mic.  
  
"Yes Lady, I see that you made it past the barrier. How was it?"  
  
"It was awful," she deadpanned.  
  
"I'm sure it was Lady."  
  
Why am I suddenly thinking of Adam? she wondered as she ran. Careful not to take her eyes off the worn-down path in front of her, she reminisced a little longer about her CO, and wondered how he was doing, wherever he ended up. 


End file.
